Nightingale was slowly falling asleep. His head pressed against the cold touch from the window. The once and harsh rain had let up into drizzle as it continued hitting against the glass.

Within his dream, he saw a memory of a time in his past life. He was thirteen then, and he stared into his young self who sat in the rain, under the cover of a tree. His uniform drenched and loose as if it had gotten into a fight.

The boy had his face hid in between his legs, as he immediately knew that he was crying. Bruises were all over his arms as he slowly recalled his memory.

A fight had happened as he was picked on after school by a group of delinquents. It was before the rain he had been taken to a park. Far away from help. They wanted money from him. But he denied them, followed by the black-and-blue eye he received from them.

He was a stubborn boy then, with no intention of backing down so he fought back.

Trading blows after blows, he managed to stand his ground against a group of three. His will and endurance were stronger than theirs as they had picked on the wrong boy.

In his young self's adrenaline, he let out a warcry, charging right at them. He sent a strong blow that sent blood spurting out from one of their noses. His face filled with rage, giving him a look of a savage beast.

He went on the defence as one of the boys were enraged. Rushing straight at him with his fist. He dodged it and sent a strong jab at the boy's chest with his elbow.

The others came in to join, along with the boy with the bloodied nose.

Taking a deep breath, he locked his feet, holding his defence high and his head low. He grabbed onto the closest boy's arm, pulling him towards him as he sent his knee into the boy's stomach.

A blow went straight at his face, as the other boy had arrived. He felt the punch hit him hard as he was sent a few steps back. The pain throbbed, but it had made the delinquents' situation much worse.

He began charging straight into the boy, returning him the punch he received. It wasn't all as he sent a kick into the boy's chest, sending him flying back.

The boy with the bloodied nose stopped his charge as he knew better. His mind filled with fear as he screamed and retreated away. The delinquents did the same as they followed in his retreat.

The boy who was last taken down was crawling on his back, staring right at the young Nightingale's face. He was terrified and in tears.

"M-Monster!" He screamed with all his heart, hastily pushing himself up, and ran in retreat.

The young Nightingale had his hands clenched into the fist. His uniform was all loose, his hands filled with bruises and his eye; black-and-blue. The rain came shortly after the delinquents' retreat. But he did not move, as he still stood standing.

He was crying, but the rain was covering over his tears. He let out his final warcry as he screamed into the rain. The cry wasn't for his victory but was out of rage.

He felt his body turn cold, as he began shivering and sneezing. He went and looked for cover, and saw a tree nearby. He grabbed his bag that was all wet and covered in mud.

He sat down under the tree, hoping to take cover under it. But the tree did not fully shield him from the rain, as raindrops fell, continuously hitting the back of his neck.

He buried his head in between his legs, hiding his face from view. As he did not want people to see his pathetic face crying.

A while after, he felt the raindrops stop, but the harsh sound of rain hadn't let up. Confused, he pulled his face away from between his legs and saw an exquisite face of a girl in his age, with her hair, long and black.

She had a sparkling smile, while she extended her hand, shielding him from the rain with her umbrella.

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He held back his tears and was left speechless. He did not know what to say as he kept himself quiet. But his face, fighting his tears.

“Everything’s going to be alright.” The girl assured him with a gentle voice.

Her hands caressed his cheek, as the young Nightingale was shocked and surprised.

“It's okay to cry.”

He heard the words echoed in his mind. His eyes became blurry as he was no longer able to hold in his tears. He gave in and began wailing. As the girl sat beside him, holding him close to her side, like a mother to her child. She told him as his eyes became blurry as he could no longer hold in his tears. He let out a wailing cry filled with sorrows as he held her tightly, savouring the warm feeling given to him by the girl who sparkled in the rain.

His dream slowly faded away, as heard a voice calling for him in the real world.

"Nightingale." Again the voice called out to him.

His consciousness slowly returned to the real world. But his mind did not drift away from his dream as he tried slowly to recall the girl's name. Alice.

“Had a good dream?” Pee Aun snickered from his right.

“Yeah, something like that.” He replied, covering his mouth for a yawn.

“Well, sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, but we’re almost there.”

Nightingale gave a look around and found himself sitting in the front seat within an SUV. The others were behind, wide awake and chattering about, while Pee Aun had his eyes on the road, in charge of driving.

It had been a couple hours ago as they had left Taipan for the airport. He gave a look at the time and it was still more than an hour away before their flight to England.

‘A reasonable amount of time to get ourselves checked in for the flight.' He thought.

Stretching his arms, he set his back up straight, facing the road. He had his elbow on the armrest with his fist supporting his head. He watched the cars passing by whilst listening to the conversation from the back.

“I can’t wait to try out as a mage specialised in fire and ice when we’re there. Oh, how much goosebumps I’m getting from just imagining it!” Telvinder said excitedly, hugging himself as he tried his best to control his excitement.

“Just be careful to not let the spells be blowing back at your face." Alicia teased him followed by Darren's laugh.

Further, in the back seats. Shuen was busy, typing on her smartphone as she was texting her friends, while Arielle on the other end was sitting quietly, reading a book she had brought with her.

Both girls hadn't interacted with one another, not because they were in bad terms but instead, their personalities were polar opposites.

Nightingale continued staring through the window. His eyes set across the horizon and saw large mountains, and in the clear night sky; were filled with stars shining as brightly with the moon.

He gave himself a moment, his eyes closed, savouring the warmth of nature he felt pressing in his chest. A smile drew on his face under the cover of his hand. He continued staring into the night sky as he slowly fell deep within his thoughtless mind.

Pee Aun brought the car to a stop as they had arrived at their destination; the airport's underground parking lot.

“Alright everyone, let’s get going,” Nightingale ordered them.

They began packing up their things and began handing their bags to one another from the SUV's boot.

Darren took charge of taking out the heavy bags and handing it to Telvinder who then called out to the ones whose bag it belonged to and passed it to them.

“Yours the last one,” Darren said, tossing a small travelling bag at Nightingale.

He caught hold on the bag's strap and wore over his shoulders.

“Didn’t bring much, did you?” Darren asked him as he joined in wait for Pee Aun to lock the back compartment.

“Nah,” Nightingale replied.

“Don't forget to lock the car.” He reminded Pee Aun who joined them away from the car.

"I'm no Telvinder." Pee Aun joked as they chuckled together leaving Telvinder confused.

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It took them awhile to check in, with the airport terminal filled with life. Nightingale was in charge of claiming their tickets. While the others had spent their remaining time to catch a late dinner.

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An hour had passed as Nightingale and the rest had already boarded the plane. He found a nice seat next to the window, as he sat down, laying his head gently back against the seat. His eyes closed, ready to take a nap.

“Hey, do you mind if I sit here?” A familiar voice asked him as he eyes sprung open to see Alicia occupying the seat next to him.

“No, not really.” He replied, closing his eyes once again and slowly fell asleep.

Nightingale’s eyes slowly opened as he let out a small, quiet yawn, waking up from his satisfied nap.

He looked over to the window and saw that they were already in flight, heading to their next destination; England. The start of their journey for Avalon.

He looked over to his side, where Alicia was seated and saw her still wide awake. It had seemed as if she was deep in thought.

He did not notice at first, but he saw that she had a saddening look. He hesitated to ask if everything was alright as he pondered whether she might have wanted to be left alone.

“Thinking about something?” He decided to ask.

“No, it’s nothing.” She replied to him with a smile, but he saw the sadness masked behind her smile.

“I can be your ears if you want to talk about it.” He assured her as he felt responsible in handling his crew's mental state.

“Miss your family?”

“No, an old friend.” She, at last, answered, but with tears, dripping from her cheek.

“I knew him very well,"

"Nick."

"He was the type who'd love to tell tales sharing stories he read from his favourite authors.”

“He would seem childish at first, going on about this and that. But as you grow to know him, he was the kindest person I knew.” She said as she began wiping her tears.

Nightingale felt his heart moved by her tears as he badly wanted to tell her that he was here; well and alive. But he knew that he couldn’t as some truths were best to remain a secret.

“I never told anyone, but at his funeral, I made a promise that I would go on an adventure in his stead.” She said as a smile slowly drew on her sorrowful face.

“And now, I would be able to fulfil that promise. So thank you, for bringing me along.” She thanked him with her smile slowly died away.

As she had hidden her face, fighting her tears. Nightingale was staring away into the window. His eyes filled with tears and his heart was screaming; ‘Thank you’.